1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a system and method for supporting and/or enabling the creation of dynamic reports and/or data presentation(s) in connection with a spreadsheet application or program that offers spreadsheet-based formatting and calculation capabilities. The system and method of the present disclosure may be used in conjunction with and/or incorporated as part of spreadsheet program(s) found on stand-alone clients and/or networked clients.
2. Background of the Disclosure
The use of spreadsheets to collect, assess, monitor and manage information and data is pervasive. Conventional company reports utilizing spreadsheets take a host of forms and typically require or utilize a variable number of columns and rows to capture, reflect and facilitate manipulation of the desired data/information. For a given spreadsheet-based report, the columns and rows may vary based upon any number of variables, e.g., organizational components and/or characteristics of a company, such as which departments report to which other departments, how the functional areas of a company are divided/deployed, etc. In typical spreadsheet-based reports, the contents of such reports must be defined as static columns and rows if the report is to include full spreadsheet formatting and calculation capabilities. Alternatively, the columns and rows may be dynamically defined; however, in enabling dynamic definitions of columns/rows, the detailed cell-by-cell formatting and calculation control are not available.
The assignee of the present application, OutlookSoft Corporation (Stamford, Conn.), has developed and deployed a preferred method and system for facilitating information exchange between individuals and entities interacting on a shared project, e.g., horizontal (i.e., non-hierarchical) participation in and/or contribution to a spreadsheet based project. OutlookSoft's Enterprise Analytic Portal™ or EAP™ product is a web-based, collaborative solution that unifies the business planning and performance management processes, empowering every manager—at all corporate levels—to drive personalized performance in support of organizational objectives. The EAP™ product delivers a single, centrally managed solution that optimizes business processes enterprise-wide and fosters a collaborative, proactive, and efficient business environment. Key process areas addressed by the EAP™ product include budgeting and planning, consolidation, multi-dimensional analysis, reporting and performance management.
In the field of spreadsheet-based systems and reporting, there is a need for a system and method that would allow a spreadsheet user to define and/or interact with a report that includes dynamically defined rows and columns. The dynamically defined rows and columns would optimally be provided with and/or include functionality that would facilitate automatic variability based on relevant parameter(s) and/or criteria, e.g., changing organizational components and/or characteristics of a company, and would also allow detailed spreadsheet formatting and calculation control of report(s) and/or displays provided thereby.